


stay with me

by Rehearsal_Dweller



Category: Newsies!: the Musical - Fierstein/Menken
Genre: 5+1 Things, M/M, Modern AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-13
Updated: 2020-09-13
Packaged: 2021-03-06 18:33:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,966
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26433454
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rehearsal_Dweller/pseuds/Rehearsal_Dweller
Summary: Five important conversations in Jack and Davey's life that happened in beds, and one that didn't.
Relationships: David Jacobs/Jack Kelly
Comments: 31
Kudos: 120





	stay with me

**Author's Note:**

> My last little birthday present fic for myself! I just really like writing soft little conversations that take place on beds, so I made a whole 5+1 about it :)

They’re fourteen, on a school trip. There’s four of them to a hotel room, which means that in most of the boys rooms, somebody is sleeping on the floor. Not this room, though, because _this_ room is Jack and Charlie and Davey and Finch, and Charlie and Jack are brothers so they’re fine with sharing. Finch is on the couch, and Davey’s got the other bed.

Jack’s always been bad at falling asleep in hotel rooms, the difference in sounds and temperature and sheet texture always keeping him up far too late.

All this is to say that he’s awake, if not necessarily super aware, when Davey wakes up with a start and a choked sob.

“Davey?” Jack says softly, suddenly much more awake. “Davey, are you okay?”

“I’m fine,” Davey says, but he’s breathing pretty heavily. “Just a nightmare, go back to sleep.”

“I wasn’t asleep.” Jack pushes up onto his elbow, frowning at Davey. “You don’t look so great, Davey.”

“Jack –“

“You wanna talk about it?”

Davey’s response follows a beat of hesitation. “No.”

“You want a hug?”

There’s a longer pause. “Yeah.”

Jack nods. He doesn’t need telling twice.

He slips out of the bed he’s sharing with his brother and crawls in next to Davey, pulling his friend into his arms.

He can feel that Davey is still shaking, his breathing uneven.

“Hey,” says Jack, “hey, I gotcha, Davey.”

“This is mortifying,” Davey says quietly.

“It can’t be that bad, if you’re still usin’ your big ol’ words,” Jack replies. “S’no shame in nightmares, Davey. They happen to all of us.”

Davey shakes his head. “I’m sorry for waking you, I’m fourteen years old, I shouldn’t need –“

“You didn’t wake me,” Jack says softly. He runs his fingers through Davey’s hair, trying to soothe him. “Davey, it’s okay. You’re my best friend, I gotcha.”

It takes a long time for Davey to fully calm down. When he does, Jack makes a move to move back to the other bed, but Davey’s hand closes around Jack’s wrist.

“Stay?”

Jack nods. “Of course.”

\--

They’re sixteen, in Davey’s bedroom. Midafternoon sunlight is streaming through the window, and they’re both sprawled lazily across Davey’s bed.

“Hey Davey?” Jack says. There’s something weighing on him, and that weight’s been growing more and more every day so now it’s almost impossible to breathe through it. “Can I tell you something?”

“Anything,” says Davey. “Always.”

Jack takes a deep breath that doesn’t quite feel like it reaches anywhere. “I don’t want – I don’t want your opinion of me to change.”

“There’s nothing you can say that would change what I think of you, Jackie,” Davey says. “Unless you, like, snapped and murdered Racer in his sleep. I might hold that against you.”

“I haven’t done that,” Jack says, chuckling almost despite himself. “Yet. I mean, you never know.”

“What’s up, then?” asks Davey. Jack can feel his eyes on him, but he just can’t quite bring himself to meet them.

“I’ve been doin’ a lot of thinking lately.”

“That’s dangerous, from you.”

“I think I’m bi, Davey,” Jack says. His voice is shaky, but he’s breathing again.

“Oh,” Davey says softly.

Jack sits up, ready to bolt out the door and run all the way home. He wants to believe that Davey wouldn’t react poorly, but –

Before Jack can even finish that thought, Davey’s hand is on his. It’s not gripping tightly, just resting over Jack’s.

“Thank you for trusting me, Jackie,” Davey says.

“You’re the first person I’ve said that out loud to,” Jack admits.

Davey’s fingers tighten over Jack’s. “Wow. Okay. How are you feeling about it?”

“Good,” says Jack. “I was really nervous before, but now – I’m good, yeah.”

“I’m proud of you,” Davey says.

“Thanks.”

“I think we should get some celebratory pizza. What pizza toppings say _coming out celebration_ to you?”

Jack laughs. “You don’t have to get pizza, Davey, it’s not that big a deal.”

“It’s a very big deal.”

“I should go home.”

“Jack, c’mon. Stay. Embrace this moment with me.”

And the thing is, Jack can’t really say no to that. There’s this fuzzy warmth in his chest at how readily Davey accepted him, at how over the top Davey is being about making sure Jack knows he’s loved and appreciated.

“Yeah, fine,” says Jack. “Sure. But only if we can get garlic knots.”

\--

They’re eighteen, and it’s the night before high school graduation.

Davey is over at Jack’s, and they’re curled up on Jack’s bed. Jack is playing idly with Davey’s hair while Davey reads aloud from a story they wrote together as third or fourth graders.

“- and there was a polar bear!” Davey reads. He laughs before continuing. “’A polar bear?’ Charlie interrupted. ‘Where’d you find a polar bear in New York City?’”

He doesn’t continue. Instead, he takes a shaky, gasping breath that can only be a sob.

“Davey?” Jack says.

Davey turns to look at him, his eyes glazed over with tears. “Jack, everything’s going to change now, isn’t it?”

“Yes,” Jack replies honestly.

“You’re gonna be in Santa Fe, and I’m gonna be in Chicago, and –“

“And it’s gonna be okay,” says Jack. “You’re still gonna be my best friend, Davey. We’re gonna talk all the time.”

“It’s not gonna be the same,” says Davey. “I can’t – I can’t show up at your door and throw myself onto your bed to read stupid stories we made up as kids –“

“Davey,” Jack says. “We’ll be okay.”

Davey nods, but he cries for almost an hour. Jack can tell that the nerves and stress of finishing high school have been getting to him, and now that they’re finally through the wild west of senior year finals, he’s finally given into the rest of his anxiety.

Jack wishes he had words for how much Davey shouldn’t worry about losing him. For how much it’s killing Jack, too, to know they’re going to different schools so far apart.

For how much, somewhat despite himself, he loves him. As a best friend, obviously, but also –

But he doesn’t have those words.

So what he says is, “Davey, stay the night.”

And Davey says, “Please.”

\--

They are twenty, and they’re in Jack’s dorm room. They’ve maybe possibly been drinking. Maybe.

Davey throws himself onto the bed, followed by a laughing Jack.

“Hey, hey, Jackie?” Davey says. “Can I tell you something dumb?”

“What’s up, Davey?” Jack replies.

“I made out with Niamh Conlon,” says Davey. “At Spot’s New Year’s party.”

“Why’sat dumb?” asks Jack, ignoring the small ache of jealousy in his chest.

“Because I don’t wanna make out with Niamh Conlon,” Davey says, like it’s obvious. “I don’t – uh, I don’t _like_ girls.”

“How come you made out with Niamh Conlon then?” Jack says, eyebrows smushing together in concentration. The news in that statement won't really hit Jack until later.

“’Cause if I’d made a move on Spot he’d’a said no,” Davey says, giggling. “An’ – _fuck_. The person I really like wasn’t there.”

“Shit, Davey, you holdin’ out on me?” says Jack. “Since when’ve you had a crush on somebody?”

Davey giggles again, rolling onto his side to look at Jack. He’s grinning, showing teeth. Davey almost never smiles with teeth, unless he thinks something is _really_ funny, and Jack always takes a certain pride from getting those less guarded smiles from him, though right now it feels a little bit at Jack’s expense.

“This is what’cha get for not coming home for New Year’s, Jackie,” says Davey. “You miss all the gossip.”

“You’re my best friend, I trust you to tell me the gossip!” Jack protests. “Especially about yourself!” He makes to stand up dramatically. “I can see when I’m not wanted. I’ll just go spend the night on the _floor_ in the _hallway –_ “

“No!” says Davey, still giggling. He catches Jack’s arm, tugging him back down onto the bed. He overbalances and tumbles onto Davey, leaving them a tangle of limbs. “Stay!”

“Yeah, okay,” says Jack. “Okay, I guess I can stay.”

\--

They are twenty-two, and it’s the night after Davey’s college graduation. Jack is there, because of course Jack is there, and they’re up well into the night.

They’ve been celebrating, but not so much that they can blame this conversation on drinking.

“It’s late,” Davey says, his eyes on the guest room door. “I should – I should go. Back to my room.”

“Davey,” Jack replies, entirely too sincerely, “stay?”

Davey looks at Jack.

Jack looks at Davey.

Davey shifts, silently, back fully onto the bed next to Jack. He lets Jack thread his arms around him, resting his head on Jack’s chest. He’s breathing slowly, and Jack can feel his heartbeat under his fingers.

“Davey?” Jack says, “Can I tell you something?”

“Anything,” Davey says softly. “Always.”

“I’m in love with you,” Jack admits. He hears Davey’s breath catch, but Davey doesn’t pull away from him. “I think I have been for a long time. But we’re – we’re turning this page into the next chapter of our lives, and I couldn’t do it without telling you. Without – yeah. I love you.”

“Oh, Jack,” Davey says, just a breath. “Oh, Jackie.”

He does wiggle out of Jack’s grip then, and Jack lets him go, because if Davey doesn’t want this then that’s _fine_. He’s said his piece. If Davey doesn’t want that they can – they can keep living their lives like this never happened, and Jack can pine quietly from a distance and everything, everything will be fine.

Davey doesn’t actually pull away, though. He just pushes up onto his hands, hanging over Jack with his eyes wide and his mouth hanging partly open.

“Do you mean that, Jackie?” Davey asks. “For real?”

“For real,” Jack confirms. He’s not sure he’s breathing.

“Thank God,” says Davey. He leans down, pressing his lips firmly to Jack’s for just a moment. “I’ve been in love with you since we were fourteen, Jack. I – I never thought – wow. Hi. I love you. That feels incredible to say out loud.”

_Since we were fourteen_.

“Hi,” Jack echoes. “I love you.”

And it really does feel incredible.

\--

They’re twenty-four, and it’s the middle of the afternoon. They’re in a park, and Jack has a little box burning a hole in his pocket.

“Hey, hey, Davey,” Jack says, tugging on Davey’s hand. “Slow down. Let’s just stay here for a minute, huh? Nice view here.”

“Oh,” says Davey, looking out across the lovely view Jack indicated. “Yeah, it is.”

While he’s not looking, Jack gets into position. So that when Davey turns around and sees him – one knee, ring box open – he gasps.

“Davey Jacobs,” Jack starts, trying to remember what he’d planned on saying and keep his voice even, “I know we usually have all our important talks in beds, but I figured this would be a better story to tell our moms.” He chuckles. “I’ve loved you a long time, Davey. Do me the honor of becoming my husband, so I can keep loving you for the rest of my life?”

“You dick!” Davey says, which is quite honestly not at all the response Jack was expecting. He digs into his pocket, and then it all makes sense. He holds his own ring box out to Jack. “I cannot fucking _believe_ you beat me to it. Yes, Jackie! Of course I’ll marry you, you goddamn scene stealer!”

Jack laughs. He stands up and pulls Davey into his arms. He can see their whole lives sprawling out in front of him for a moment – a place all their own, maybe a family, definitely at least one dog, and a lifetime of soft, sleepy conversations in bed.

And it all starts right here, with the two of them trading engagement rings.

Jack can’t wait.


End file.
